


Silver Lining

by misura



Category: The Sixth World - Rebecca Roanhorse
Genre: Common Cold, F/M, Fluff, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2021-02-08 01:37:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21467929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: Compared to some of the other stuff I've dealt with, a cold is nothing.
Relationships: Kai Arviso/Maggie Hoskie
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14
Collections: Yuletide Madness 2019





	Silver Lining

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gentlezombie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gentlezombie/gifts).

Compared to some of the other stuff I've dealt with, a cold is nothing. Sadly, that doesn't make it feel any better. My nose and head feel like they've been stuffed with cotton. Any conversation I have, I seem to need to pause to sneeze every ten words or so. It's annoying.

"Well, that's what comes from showing off," Grandpa Tah says.

I'm not sure what he means by that, but I don't care enough to ask. Right now, he could stand on his head and start juggling empty bottles, and I wouldn't care enough to ask why.

Tah sighs. "Still, he's really something, isn't he?" His eyes are shining and his lips are curved in a proud smile, the way they pretty much always do when he talks about Kai. "Big medicine."

"He's really something," I say. That's easy enough to admit.

"The two of you together, now." Tah shakes his head and sighs again. Kai and me - we're partners, sort of. Friends. Maybe something a little more than friends.

Tah would like to think so, anyway, and I'm not wholly averse to the idea myself, and Kai seems unreasonably fond of me. One day, I may do something about that.

Right now, I want peace and quiet and for my body to go back to normal.

"All I'm saying is, you want his attention, you could be more subtle, you know?" Tah says. "I mean, you don't have to make it easy for him or something, but, well, look at you."

"If I want his attention, I'll ask for it." Is that what Tah thinks? That I've caught a cold on purpose?

"Really?" Tah looks delighted. "That's a change from the old Maggie. A good one, mind," he adds with some haste. "Very good. Kai's a good boy, you know. He'll make you a fine boyfriend."

I sneeze.

"Let me go and get Kai to put a stop to this nonsense," Tah says.

Kai finds me maybe ten minutes later. He looks chastised. It's hard to imagine Tah saying a harsh word to his darling grandson, but Kai did originally come to him to learn. Maybe Tah the Teacher is sterner than Tah the Doting Grandfather.

"I'm not dying or something," I snap.

Kai's expression doesn't change much. "I know. It's still my fault you got sick."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you forced me to stand outside while it was raining." Technically, Kai _is_ responsible for the rain. For a long time, it didn't rain at all. The drought lasted a lot of years.

Kai fixed that, using the Weather Ways. He did a good thing, a great thing. Tah's right to be proud of him.

"If I'd gone inside - " Kai starts.

He's right to think I would have followed him. He'd brought the rain back, and he'd come home with me, and when I kissed him, he tasted like the rain. I would have followed him anywhere.

"I would have stayed outside in the rain," I say.

Kai looks mournful. "You like the rain more than you like me?"

"So can you help me get rid of this cold?" I ask, ignoring his question.

"I could make you tea and fetch you extra blankets and help you keep warm." Kai's smile is suggestive. "If that's what you want. I can tell you about my new books."

Kai has strong medicine. It's why I got a cold and he didn't.

"I was kind of hoping for something quicker."

"Am I that boring when I talk about books? I can talk about other things," Kai says. "Or we could not talk at all. Plenty of other things we could do instead of talking." He grins, more hopeful than lecherous.

I want to smile, but end up sneezing instead.

"Let me at least get you in bed," Kai says.

"Some monsterslayer I am, letting a cold get the better of me."

If Kai's disappointed at the lack of response to his suggestion, he hides it well. He smiles, bright and happy, a bit like Tah, but much younger. "Your cold's not an enemy, Mags. You just need to take it easy for a while, let your body get back to normal."

I sigh. "Some tea does sound good."

"We could snuggle a little, at least," Kai says. "I'm a very warm person."

"Hot." I thought a running nose would be the worst of it, but nope, looks like I'm also going to get a fever. Fun. Next time it rains, I'll know better.

Of course, that doesn't mean I'll actually act any smarter. Feeling the rain on my face felt _good_.

"Well, I don't like to brag," Kai says. "But - Mags?"

"You love to brag." He's nice about it, though. Kai's a nice guy. "I think I want to lie down for a bit."

"Sure thing. I'll go make that tea I promised." Kai hesitates. "Or maybe I'll do that later."

I sigh. "Is that offer for snuggling still good?"

"Of course." Kai sounds a bit hurt. "Don't worry. You'll feel lots better in the morning."

"If you say so."

"Trust me," Kai says. "You may be the monsterslayer, but I'm - "

"Hot and a warm person?"

"You know it, partner." Kai bumps against me, warm and solid, offering me his strength if I need to lean on someone.

I'm not so far gone that I accept - it's only a cold, after all, but I still appreciate the offer.


End file.
